Highlights

Primary Sources: Rick Perlstein on Garry Wills

In our conversation, Rick and I talk about the qualities he most admires in Wills, among them his unpredictability and his lack of deference to power. We also discuss the importance of morality in both their work, and how Rick’s views of the conservative movement have evolved over time.  Interview by Eyal Press for Primary Sources.

Primary Sources: Rebecca Solnit on George Orwell

In this conversation, she elaborates on her unconventional view of Orwell, and she offers an alternative reading of 1984. She talks about how Orwell was both a socialist and a critic of the left, and why she identifies with this, and argues for the political importance of pleasure and beauty. And she explains why, despite Orwell’s troubling silence about the plight of women, she believes we should still read his works. Interview by Eyal Press for Primary Sources.

Primary Sources: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Tony Judt

In this conversation, which was recorded last fall, Ta-Nehisi talks about why Postwar had such a profound impact on him. He explores the preface he wrote to Ill Fares the Land, another of Judt’s books, which has just been reissued by Penguin. He also talks about the power of language to help us imagine a better world, whether he identifies as an Afro-pessimist, and what it’s like to grow up in a nationalist household. By Eyal Press for Primary Sources.